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Thunder notebook: Tony Parker hoping to play in Game 1 against Oklahoma City

San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker (9) shoots in front of Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka (9) and center Kendrick Perkins during the third quarter of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Thursday, April 3, 2014. Oklahoma City won 106-94. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

The Hall of Fame talk is about 15 years premature and bolder than a Russell Westbrook postgame outfit. But the longterm optimism surrounding Adams seems to be growing by the game. And the rookie will have to continue to grow up quick, with Ibaka now out for the remainder of the postseason.

PERK ON REGGIE

In the Thunder’s gritty closeout win on Thursday night, Adams wasn’t the only OKC reserve to play a huge role.

Kendrick Perkins, in fact, labeled the second-unit as the stars of the game.

“Nick (Collison) played well,” Perkins said. “He didn’t play a lot of minutes in this series and he came in and gave us a big spark. (Derek) Fisher came in the second quarter and I though the way he came in and guarded Jamal Crawford and hit a couple big shots sparked us. Then Reggie played some of the best defense I’ve seen him play since I got here.”

The Thunder bench outscored the Clippers bench 35-17.

“I always say, throughout the series, one guy is going to win a game for you who is not your superstar,” Perkins said. “Tonight, we had four of them coming off the bench. That was key.”

PERK, FISH PRAISE CLIPPERS

Following a dramatic six-game battle with the Clippers that included a variety of technicals and tussles, two of the Thunder’s most respected veterans went out of their way to compliment Los Angeles’ performance.

“In the midst of one of the most disturbing, sad situations that we’ve seen in sports, ever,” Derek Fisher said of the Donald Sterling scandal, “the effort that they were able to give for six games in this series is something to be talked about for a long time. They deserve a lot more credit than they’ll probably get.”

Perkins called the Clippers “a problem” for the NBA in the next couple seasons, identifying the strides taken by their big men.

“We did a pretty good job on them, but I’ll tell you one thing, both those guys improved their game a lot,” Perkins said. “Blake (Griffin) hitting jumpers now that you really have to go out and contest and DJ (DeAndre Jordan) got a whole lot better at what he does. So like a said, this is a team that’s gonna be real scary.”

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Anthony Slater started on the Thunder beat in the summer of 2013, joining after two years as NewsOK.com's lead sports blogger and web editor. A native Californian, Slater attended Sonoma State for two years before transferring to Oklahoma State in...